Relatively swivelable plates for use between conventional vise jaws



Oct. 11, 1955 L. R. BAUER 2,720,126

RELATIVELY SWIVELABLE PLATES FOR USE BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL VISE JAWS Filed Feb. 11, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOH I-XT'IORNEYS Oct. 11, 1955 1.. R. BAUER RELATIVELY SWIVELABLE PLATES FOR USE BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL VISE JAWS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 11, 1954 LozzzaR.Bazze7 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent RELATIV ELY SWIVELABLE PLATES FOR USE BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL VISE JAWS Louis R. Bauer, New Albany, Ind.

Application February 11, 1954, Serial No. 409,581 1 Claim. CI. 81-40) This invention relates to a swivel vise jaw attachment and more particularly to a jaw member constructed according to an embodiment of my invention to clamp and firmly hold a cylindrical work piece of any cross sectional configuration while work is being performed on the work piece.

It is another object of this invention to provide a swivel vise jaw attachment of this kind for holding any shaped object including round, square or beveled on any compound angle up to and around 35 on opposite sides, such attachment comprising front and rear plates having seats in their confronting faces to selectively receive a ball or pin swivelmeans.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter described and the novel features thereof defined in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a conventional vise and shows an end elevation of a two-plate swivel vise jaw attachment constructed according to an embodiment of my invention, the attachment being shown in a work-clamping position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the two-plate swivel vise jaw attachment removed from the vise, but showing a pin type swivel rather than the ball swivel shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the work-engaging faces of the swivel jaw attachment shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross section through the vise jaw attachment as taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2 and shows a pin type or cylindrical bar swivel connection between the two plates.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one-plate of my swivel joint attachment and shows a modified work-engaging jaw surface.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section corresponding to Fig. 4 but shows a ball swivel of Fig. 1 substituted for the pin type swivel connection of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is an elevation of a work engaging piece of oneplate of a second modified swivel attachment as it would appear when looking down on Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 7, being partly broken away and shown in section, of the second modifield swivel jaw plate.

Fig. 9 is an elevation of the swivel side of the second modified jaw plate as it would appear when looking up at Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a view of one end of the second modified form of swivel jaw plate as seen from the right in Fig. 8, and

Fig. 11 is an end elevation of still another modified form of my invention and shows the attachment in position against a fragment of one vise jaw.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 15 designates generally a swivel jaw attachment constructed according to an embodiment of my invention for use between clamping jaws of a machine vise, or for use between the jaws of wood clamps, the attachment being usable to clamp either metal or wood work pieces in a vise.

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A conventional vise V is provided with a movable jaw member 16 and a fixed jaw member 17, the movable jaw member 16 having a screw 18 threaded therein and rotatable in a sleeve 18' which is fixed to the vise in spaced relation to the fixed jaw member 17 of the vise. The movable jaw 16 is movable toward or from the fixed jaw member 17 by the screw 18 engaging through the sleeve and rotated by a handle 19 which is slidable transversely of the screw and engageable in the hand and fingers of a person using the vise V.

The attachment 15, constructed according to an em.- bodiment of my invention is provided. with a pair of spaced apart plates to be more particularly described hereinafter the plates being swivelly mounted relative to each other and movable toward the fixed jaw member 17 upon movement of the movable jaw member 16.

The attachment 15 is provided with a rear plate 20 and a front plate 21 transversely spaced apart and swivelable relative to each other when the forward plate is in engagement with a piece of work clamped in the vise V.

Each of the plates 20 and 21 is formed of a relatively fiat sheet of material as metal or the like and has a finger groove 22 extending longitudinally thereof on the opposite edges for handling the plates when they have been removed from the vise.

Ordinarily the front and rear plates 21 and 22 will be separated from each other and from the vise V and must be assembled in their proper relation by the hands of a person using the vise when it is desired to clamp a work piece W between the attachment 15 and the fixed vise jaw 17 at which time the attachment will be properly positioned both in its relation to the vise V and the work piece W. t I

The front plate 21 is provided with vertical and horizontal substantially V-shaped cutouts 23 on the front surface thereof for properly engaging the work piece W to hold the work piece between the attachment 15 and the fixed vise jaw 17 as clearly shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

The work piece W may be many sided, spherical, cylindrical or have some other configuration and yet be properly engaged and gripped between the attachment 15 and the fixed jaw member.

A swivel is provided between the front and rear plates, the swivel being by way of a tubular rod or by way of a ball or other proper spherical object so that the front plate 21 may pivot or roll to a selected position relative to the rear plate 20 for its clamping engagement with the work piece W.

The rear plate is provided with a vertically and transversely extending U-shaped groove 25 in the forward face thereof and a similar transversely extending U-shaped groove 26 is provided in the confronting face of the front plate 21, a cylindrical bar 27 being disposed within the grooves 25 and 26 for rotatably positioning said front plate with respect to said rear plate when the front plate is clamped against the work piece W.

A spherically shaped recess 28 is formed in each of the confronting faces of the front and rear plates at the midpoint of the grooves 25 and 26 so that a sphere 29 may be positioned in said recesses to provide universal movement of one-plate with respect to the other.

In the use and operation of the vise attachment described above, the front and rear plates are initially positioned relative to the movable and fixed vise jaws with the front plate facing towards the fixed vise jaw so that a multi-sided work piece W may be clamped between the fixed vise jaw 17 and the attachment 15 described above.

When merely rocking movement of the plates is required, the cylindrical bar 27 may preferably be used between the front and rear attaching plates but when universal movement is required a ball 29 may be used in place of the cylindrical bar 27, the cylindrical bar 27 being removed from the vise jaw attachment in this case.

Another form of front plate is shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the work-engaging face of the plate being serrated for proper engagement with a multi-sided or multiedged work piece, and the serrated face being indicated by the numeral 33 on the drawings.

The front plate 30 of this form of the invention is generally flat in configuration and has a finger groove 31 on each opposite side thereof so that the plate 30 may be easily handled by a person using the vise.

The front plate 30 is also provided with a tranverse U- shaped groove 32 on a rear side thereof within which the cylindrical bar 27 may be positioned for properly rocking the front plate 30 relative to the rear plate 20 described above.

In Figs. 7 to of the drawings, there is shown still another form of this invention having an elongated front plate 40 with a transverse groove 41 on the rear side thereof with which a cylindrical bar 42 may be properly engaged and disposed for rockingly supporting the elongated front plate 40 relative to a rear plate such as the rear plate 20 described above.

As in the preferred embodiment there is provided a spherical groove 43 intermediate the length of the groove 41 for swivelly supporting a swivel ball, as the swivel ball 29 described above, to be used in place of the cy1indrical bar 27.

The forward side of the elongated front plate 40 is provided with a forwardly extending post or prong 44 at one end thereof and a flat pad 45 at the other end thereof. The fiat pad 45 is connected to the front plate 40 by way of a swivel ball 46 which is cupped in a cup shaped receptacle orholder 47 so that when the work piece W is irregular in its longitudinal configuration, the prong 44 may engage a portion of the work piece while the swivel pad 45 may properly bear against the work piece remote from the post or prong 44 at the time that the work piece is being clamped in the vise. With this last form of the invention as well as with the forms of the invention described above, the plates 20, 21, 30 and the elongated front plate 40 are positioned separate from each other and separate from the vise V before they are to be used on a work piece W.

This looseness of the various members of the attachment is taken up when the clamp is properly positioned in relation to the work piece W and the fixed vise jaw 17 so that the attachment 15 being attached and positioned relative to the movable work piece 16 may compensate for any irregularities between the work piece W and the vise V.

In Fig. 11 there is shown a modified form of this invention that employs a swivel connection 46 between the rear plate 20' and front plate 21'.

While the specific details of one embodiment of this invention have been herein shown and described, the invention is not confined thereto as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the function and scope thereof as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

A swivel adjunct for a conventional vise, said adjunct comprising a rear plate having a rear jaw-engaging face, a front plate having a front work-engaging face, and swivel means engaging and spacing confronting faces of said plates; said swivel means including a cylindrical bar and a spherical ball selectively usable between said plates for selective pivotal and universal relative movement between said plates; the confronting faces of said plates being provided with registering transversely extending cylindrical grooves, and with spherical recesses at the midpoints of said grooves, whereby said cylindrical bar and spherical ball can be selectively positioned within said registering grooves and recesses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 48,431 Peace June 27, 1865 228,245 Brady June 1, 1880 1,006,509 Starrett Oct. 24, 1911 1,054,740 Each Mar. 4, 1913 2,485,876 Guest Oct. 25, 1949 2,580,585 Odin Jan. 1, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 353,044 Germany May 8, 1922 OTHER REFERENCES Publication, Popular Science, November 1944; reverse side of page 194. 

